Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor, has disproved information provided by the Electoral Commission on the cost of elections per voter in the 2020 December polls being $7.70.
According to him, the Commission on an average spent about $78 to $93 per person in the 2020 elections. Mr Otokunor explained that Parliament released a total of GH1.3billion and by dividing such an amount by the 13.9 million people registered, the EC on an average spent 93.5 and not $7.70 as put forth by them.
Addressing the press on Monday, Deputy EC Chair, Dr Bossman Asare indicated that the Commission was able to reduce the cost of elections per voter from $13.34 in 2016 to $7.70, managing to save the country over $90 million.
“According to their records, 13.9 million people registered. If you run simple proportion and you multiply by $7.07, what Jean Mensah is telling us is that, she spent $107,030,000 on the election. That is palpable falsehood. That cannot be the case. You and I were in this country when they sent GH1.8billion to Parliament. Parliament pruned it down, gave them GH1.3billion for the entire process”.
Mr Peter Boamah Otokunor
The Deputy General of the NDC disclosed that the registration exercise alone according to their own figures is “almost GH500million”. Deducing more values from his calculations, Mr Otokunor indicated that once you “divide GH1.3billion by 13.9 million people who voted in the election, the per capita cost of the elections is $93.5”.
Mr Otokunor, seeking to justify his stance cited another scenario where if one uses “GH1billion” for the calculation, “you are getting close to about $78 per capita”.
Following his inclusion of logistics provided during the 2020 election which included the printing of ballot papers, transportation, among others, Mr Otokunor insisted that “there is no way your per capita expenditure in the elections would be $7.07. Absolutely not correct. Totally ineffective”.
“What kind of analysis is this? Who are they deceiving?”
Mr Peter Boamah Otokunor
EC Chair accused of propaganda
Following his analysis of figures, Mr Otokunor accused the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensah, of engaging in propaganda. According to him, the recent press conference held by the Commission is needless and a waste of state resources.
“I think that the Electoral Commission is engaged in a lot of pedestrian propaganda to kind of white-wash a broken image of an Electoral body. This press conference is one of those typical examples of needless waste of state resources. I can assure you this particular press conference would have cost the government tens of thousands of Ghana cedis. What exactly was the Electoral Commission trying to put out?”
Mr Peter Boamah Otokunor
Meanwhile, the Director of Elections of NDC, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has reaffirmed the party’s posture towards the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to him, the NDC will not be passive in the resolution of conflicts that may arise in the course of the polls. Commenting on the EC press conference held on October 25, 2021, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah alleged that, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) connived with the Electoral Commission to steal the elections.
He also decried the court hearing, stating the decision of the judges to prevent the EC Chairperson from being cross-examined.
“So, if you have a Supreme Court that will not create the conditions for the truth to come out, no wonder they’ll come out to say that it was very transparent despite the issues that went on. That is why we are saying that okay, 2024 we have learnt our lessons, and we’ll not go to court. We’ll settle it”.
Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah
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